The Last Chance
by blakekeane
Summary: Harry dies in the Forbidden Forest, but instead of Dumbledore, he meets his Grim Reaper. Then surprisingly, Hermione shows up. Offered a chance to go back in time and change things, Harry and Hermione return to the land of the living. This time around, they will NOT be victims. Either of a master manipulator, or a deranged Dark Lord. My take on Reptilia28's challenge. H/Hr.
1. Chapter 1

**The Last Chance**

*Harry is killed at 17 during a fight with Voldemort. He's sent to his Death's office (explained later) and finds out that this isn't the first time that this has happened.

*Harry's Death (who can have a human name) is mad at his arrival. Apparently, people dying before their time is a black mark on the various Deaths' records, and Harry is getting perilously close to getting this particular one fired.

*When Harry asks what was supposed to have happened, Death goes off on a rant saying how he was supposed to have killed Voldemort, found his soulmate ("Some Granger girl...") and lived to be a centennial age. But since Harry keeps getting into life-threatening situations for one reason or another, he keeps dying before that happens. Harry is surprised about the soulmate part.

*Death gives Harry a paper to sign that allows him to retain his memories (the previous times, he wasn't given this option for some reason). Harry is deposited to a previous time of the writer's choosing.

*Eventually, Harry gets it right. He kills Voldemort, gets the girl, and lives to a ripe old age of whatever. And Death doesn't get fired.

REQUIREMENTS:

*Harry had to have died at least three times before this one.

*The memory keeping contract must be included.

*Death must refer to Hermione as "some Granger girl" when Harry's soulmate turns up in his rant.

*Obviously, must be H/Hr.

*Have fun.

OPTIONAL:

*Dumbledore's manipulations can be a factor in Harry's premature demises.

* * *

**Chapter 1**

Harry Potter opened his eyes and had a weird sense of déjà vu. He knew he had been here before, in this exact same position, that is to say with his face buried in the Persian rug.

He sat up, trying to guess what in Merlin's name was happening. Last thing he remembered was...

His eyes widened as he remembered the last thing he had seen before he woke up here, wherever this was.

The green flash of a killing curse, fired at him by Voldemort in the Forbidden Forest.

Suddenly Harry heard a throat being cleared and looked up.

"You can go in now. And best of luck, you'll need it." A pretty blonde woman, Harry had just noticed was in the room, said.

Harry looked at her quizzically and she pointed at the door next to her desk.

"You have to go in." She said. Harry could have sworn that she was looking at him pityingly, as if he was marching to his death.

Harry stood up, dusting himself off, and walked towards the door, deciding to go along with whatever madness this was for the time being.

He opened the door and saw a well decorated office, with a rug much like the room he had been in before. There was a large screen T.V. on a wall, and a huge desk that was littered with papers and other stuff occupying much of the space. A woman with shoulder-length red hair, wearing a business suit was sitting behind the desk, and looked up from her scribbling as he entered.

Only the hours that he had spent dodging bludgers while on a stick of wood several hundred feet in the air while playing Quidditch allowed him to dodge the glass paperweight that was sailing through the air at his head. That would definitely have given him a scar to match the one he already had. As it was, it shattered against the door behind him, peppering him with harmless bits of glass.

"YOU! WHAT THE BLOODY HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE? YOU ABSOLUTELY INFURIATING, MIND-BOGGLINGLY STUPID, BRAINLESS LUNATIC! WHY? WHY DO YOU DO THIS TO ME? WHAT HAVE I EVER DONE TO YOU? WHY ME? EXPLAIN YOURSELF!"

Harry turned around fearfully to look at the woman that was screaming at the top of her voice at him while chucking several of the objects on her desk at him, including a rubber duck much to his surprise.

After fifteen minutes of insulting, degrading, criticizing every last thing about one Harry Potter, all the while throwing various things at him (he wondered where she was getting some of the things, like a half eaten Twinkie or a statue of what Hermione had told him was he laughing Buddha, since they weren't on her desk at first) she finally seemed to run out of steam.

The woman slumped in her armchair, and Harry was surprised to see she had tears in her eyes. He awkwardly stood where he was, half buried in a pile of various improvised projectile weapons, while waiting for the woman to gather herself.

She finally looked up at him again, an apologetic expression on her face.

"Sorry about that. I just had a lot of pent up frustration to get rid of." The woman said as she waved a hand, vanishing all the debris of her tantrum from around Harry, whose eyes were nearly popping out of his head.

"Wandless magic?" He asked breathlessly. The woman looked oddly at him before suddenly bursting into giggles, confusing Harry even more.

"Sorry, it's just a little amusing how we go through the same routine every single time I see you." She said after sobering up a little.

"Every time? What are you talking about? I think I would remember it if I had met you before." Harry said.

The woman sighed and rubbed her face, grimacing slightly.

"You better take a seat. This will take a little time." She said as she gestured towards the comfortable stuffed chair in front of her desk.

Harry walked over warily and sat down, careful to look for any signs of an impending outburst.

"Well to begin with, I think you should know you are dead." The woman said bluntly.

Harry just stared at her. Sure, he had walked to the Forbidden Forest with every intention of dying, but she could at least have had a little consideration.

"Alright. I'm dead. So where am I if I'm dead?" Harry asked.

"Well you're certainly taking it better this time." She said.

"Wait what? This time? Wait... You said we have met before, so that means... Oh Merlin I've died before haven't I?" Harry said breathlessly. The woman gave him a wry smile.

"You've actually grown some brains! You guessed it correct. You are dead, have been dead before, quite a few times actually, which is pissing off my superiors. This has gotten me, your personal Grim Reaper, Rebecca, perilously close to being fired. Currently, you are at Death's Door. Any questions?" She asked him sweetly.

"Um, yeah. How many times have I died? How did I get back if I was dead once? What do you mean by Grim Reaper? And finally, Death's Door? Really?" Harry asked.

"Hey! You witches and wizards named your government the Ministry of Magic. Like that required even the slightest bit of imagination!" Rebecca protested.

"I always said that the Ministry is full of fools bar a few like Tonks." Harry pointed out.

"Good point." Rebecca admitted grudgingly. "Anyway, about your other questions."

"Yes?" Harry said hopefully, leaning forward in his chair.

"Well you've died twelve times including this last one." Rebecca said sadly as Harry paled rapidly.

He took a deep breath and calmed himself.

"How?" He asked simply.

"How did you get back to life if you died?" Rebecca asked rhetorically.

"No, I mean-"

"Well you see, it's like this. Once in every few centuries, some extraordinary soul comes along who has a very important destiny to fulfill. One that will affect the course of history in a significant way. You are one such person. Because of your importance, you were sent back to life to complete your task. Also, for this very purpose, you get a Grim Reaper, who is supposed to watch over you as you go through life, for example, yours truly." Rebecca said.

"Uh, okay. Another question." Harry said. "Could you tell me what this 'destiny' is? I mean, I was told about the prophecy by Professor Dumbledore-"

"DON'T! DON'T EVEN TALK ABOUT THAT MEDDLING, MANIPULATIVE OLD FOOL!" Rebecca shouted, making Harry try and disappear into his chair, before closing her eyes and taking deep, calming breaths. Even after that, her eyes were still blazing with anger when she opened them.

"That... That old fool is one of the most important reasons for your several untimely deaths! So please Harry, try not to mention his name too much around me." Rebecca said as she rubbed the bridge of her nose.

Harry nodded fearfully, not wanting to incur her wrath again.

"We'll come back to all that the old fool has done, but first, I believe you asked what your destiny was." Rebecca said, continuing after Harry's hesitant nod. "Well we don't normally tell mortals their destinies ahead of time, but I think an exception can be made for you."

"You see, your first and primary objective was to rid the world of Voldemort, then you would grow up to take on the mantle of Lord Potter, clean up the Ministry, marry your soul mate, some Granger girl I think, have three kids with her, drag the backward Wizarding world into the twenty first century with her help, live to the ripe old age of 142, and _then _come to see me. Got all that?" Rebecca said.

Harry, meanwhile, was stuck on one little detail.

"What did you mean when you said my soul mate was Hermione? I thought she was supposed to be with Ron." Harry asked curiously.

Rebecca sighed and smacked her face with palm.

"Typical. Absolutely typical. Tell a guy he's going to change the world, and all he cares about is the part where you tell him he gets the girl." She groused, before looking back at him.

"Yes, I meant exactly what I said. Your soul mate is Hermione Granger, not some red-headed, potion-brewing, fame-obsessed fan-girl!" Rebecca said angrily.

"Hey! Don't talk about Ginny like that! I-"

"Love her?" Rebecca said sarcastically, cutting him off. "And it's interesting that you immediately thought of her when I said all that. Think for a second, look inside yourself, and look me in the eye. _Then _you can try telling me love her."

Harry did exactly that, reviewing all the interactions that he had had with Ginny. Suddenly, a thought popped into his head, and for some reason, it was in Molly Weasley's voice.

_'You are just like James and she is just like Lily!'_

Just... Like... Lily.

Lily Potter. His mother.

"Oh Merlin. What the hell is wrong with me?" He whispered, trying to fight back the nausea from the images that had popped into his head.

"Figured it out, didn't you? And don't worry, there's absolutely nothing wrong with you." Rebecca said reassuringly.

"How can you say that?" Harry exclaimed. "She's almost a duplicate of my-"

"Love potions." Rebecca said, cutting him off.

"What?" Harry asked dumbly.

"Love potions. You were being dosed with love potions since a little after your godfather's death. Both you and your soulmate. The potions were keyed to Ginevra and Ronald Weasley." Rebecca said gently.

"So that's why Hermione was acting so out of character!" Harry said thoughtfully. And then another, even more horrible thought struck him.

"You said the potions Hermione was given were keyed to Ron. Did he know?" Harry asked quietly. Rebecca nodded.

"Yes. That was one of his tasks assigned by the manipulative old goat and his banshee of a mother. That's also why he left for so long on the hunt, he was running oout of potions to feed you two." Rebecca said.

This revelation caused a different reaction in Harry than the earlier one.

When he learned that Ginny had caught him with potions, all he felt was sorrow, sorrow that the person who he had thought he would spend his life with was actually controlling him into thinking that way. When he learned about Hermione being treated the same way, however, all he felt was a burning rage.

"He's going to pay. Best friend or not, he's not getting away with this. Him and all of those that did this to her. I could forgive them trying something on me, but not Hermione." Harry whispered, his hands shaking with barely restrained fury. He had a protective streak a mile wide when it came to the bushy haired brunette, and the knowledge that someone they both had trusted with their lives had betrayed them so horribly was all that was needed to set him off.

"He will. That's what I am here for. You still have one last chance to change the world Harry, and you can correct all that went wrong." Rebecca said, snapping him out of the thoughts of what he would like to do to certain redheads when he got his hands on them.

"Sorry. It's just…" Harry said, trailing off a bit.

"I understand. You just had your life turned inside out. Learning that people you thought you could trust aren't who you thought they were can be a bit of a shock." Rebecca said kindly. "Take your time. We can continue when you want to."

Harry nodded as he tried to assimilate all that he had been told. He was about to speak again, when they both heard loud voices from outside the room. Both Rebecca and Harry turned to look at the door, curious as to what was happening. If anything, the shouting only got louder.

"OUT. OF. MY. WAY." A female voice screamed, followed by a loud bang. The door was blasted off its hinges, and in walked a very angry brunette.

"HARRY JAMES POTTER!"

Harry cringed involuntarily. This was definitely not a good day for him.

Hermione Granger stalked towards him, eyes blazing with anger.

"Um. Hello Hermione." He said weakly, right before she punched him square on his nose.

Yup, not a good day for Harry Potter.

* * *

A/N: Alright, Here's my very own version of Reptilia28's challenge. You've obviously noticed that I've made one major change in the story, and the change is that I am going to send Hermione back with Harry.

The reason for this is simple. I recently read a fic where a war veteran Harry goes back and gets soul bound with Ginny. Hermione takes it upon herself to explain why a man more than hundred years old in a relationship with an eleven year old girl is creepy.

With that one story, the time travel genre was nearly ruined for me, but then I read robst's 'In This World and the Next' and came up with the theory that if both the boy and the girl are temporally displaced, it probably won't be so creepy.

Although here they will only be going back three years, but still. Kinda freaked me out.

Hope you like it, and if you have any suggestions, just let me know.


	2. Chapter 2

**The Last Chance**

*Harry is killed at 17 during a fight with Voldemort. He's sent to his Death's office (explained later) and finds out that this isn't the first time that this has happened.

*Harry's Death (who can have a human name) is mad at his arrival. Apparently, people dying before their time is a black mark on the various Deaths' records, and Harry is getting perilously close to getting this particular one fired.

*When Harry asks what was supposed to have happened, Death goes off on a rant saying how he was supposed to have killed Voldemort, found his soul mate ("Some Granger girl...") and lived to be a centennial age. But since Harry keeps getting into life-threatening situations for one reason or another, he keeps dying before that happens. Harry is surprised about the soul mate part.

*Death gives Harry a paper to sign that allows him to retain his memories (the previous times, he wasn't given this option for some reason). Harry is deposited to a previous time of the writer's choosing.

*Eventually, Harry gets it right. He kills Voldemort, gets the girl, and lives to a ripe old age of whatever. And Death doesn't get fired.

REQUIREMENTS:

*Harry had to have died at least three times before this one.

*The memory keeping contract must be included.

*Death must refer to Hermione as "some Granger girl" when Harry's soul mate turns up in his rant.

*Obviously, must be H/Hr.

*Have fun.

OPTIONAL:

*Dumbledore's manipulations can be a factor in Harry's premature demises.

**Disclaimer: **I apparently forgot one, last time, so here it is.

I solemnly swear that I do not own the rights to Harry Potter, Hermione Granger or the universe they inhabit.

* * *

**Chapter 2**

Harry collapsed back in the chair, clutching his face, eyes watering with the pain.

"How could you? How could you give yourself up without a fight?" Hermione screamed at him.

"Did you think what would happen after you died? Did you care about how the people you left behind feel?" Hermione shouted, her voice breaking as tears started to fall. "Did you care what would happen to me without you?"

She finally broke and fell to her knees, all the rage burned out at seeing Harry apparently alive and unharmed. All that was left was the grief, the hollow feeling that she had in her chest since she had seen his lifeless body desecrated by Voldemort and his minions.

Harry got off his chair and kneeled down beside her, wrapping her in a hug as she cried.

"You- you didn't even say goodbye. You left! Just like that!" She whispered, her sobs abating as she held on to him, unwilling to let him go.

"Well to be fair to him, he had just been brainwashed by two masters of their craft." A voice came from above them.

Hermione's head whipped up as she reached for a wand that wasn't there.

"Who are you?" Hermione hissed, lurching to her feet and putting herself between the woman and Harry.

The woman grinned at her and raised her hands in as non-threatening a manner as possible.

"Calm down Ms. Granger. I mean him no harm." Rebecca said evenly. Harry rose to his feet and put a calming hand on Hermione's shoulder.

Hermione was still looking at Rebecca suspiciously, but immediately relaxed at Harry's touch. Then she remembered that she was angry at him for effectively committing suicide. She whirled around and glared at him, making him back away involuntarily.

"Don't you think that this is over Harry Potter. You died, I died, but now, here we are! I don't know what's going on, but once I get some answers about this place, we are going to have a nice long discussion about sacrificing your life for no bloody reason!" She hissed, jabbing him in the chest with her index finger.

Rebecca chuckled at the fearful expression on his face. He had definitely not looked this scared after her own rant.

"Now, first things first. I assume from the fact that we are both here, and that I was hit by a killing curse a few minutes before, that we are both dead?" Hermione asked, looking between Harry and Rebecca. At the woman's nod Hermione opened her mouth only to be cut off by Harry.

"What! Who did it? I swear, the moment I get my hands-" Harry shouted indignantly but Hermione silenced him with a glare.

"Malfoy, but it's not really important. And you better explain what's going on, since I don't think my afterlife involved suicidal best friends and lush offices with irritating secretaries outside them." Hermione said. Rebecca chuckled again.

"You know, I'm really starting to like you. Alright, take a seat. You are as involved in this as the knucklehead beside you is, so you might as well stay." Rebecca said as she waved her hand to expand the armchair into a couch.

Hermione reluctantly took a seat beside Harry, who was now clutching his bleeding nose again. She felt a small twinge of guilt at his pained expression. Rebecca saw her expression and snapped her fingers, mending Harry's nose.

"Why did you go to the Forest Harry? You never did answer that." Hermione said, eyeing him.

"Well you see-" Harry started, only to be cut off.

"I'll answer that." Rebecca said, turning to Hermione. "The memories Snape gave him? They showed a conversation between the greasy git and Albus Dumb-as-a-door stating that Harry was a Horcrux and needed to die."

Hermione looked horrified as the words hit home. She turned to look Harry.

"And so you just decided to let Voldemort kill you? Why didn't you at least come and tell me this?" Hermione asked softly. Harry stared at the ground, avoiding her gaze.

"I didn't want to disturb you and Ron. And I didn't think you would let me go to face Voldemort, so I didn't bother." Harry said sulkily.

Hermione blinked a moment and then shot forward to hug him.

"Oh Harry, you stupid boy. Of course I wouldn't let you kill yourself!" Hermione said softly. "And what do mean you didn't want to disturb me and... Ron."

Hermione's eyes widened in horror.

"Oh Merlin. I kissed him. I kissed Ronald bloody Weasley." She whispered, turning an interesting shade of green. "What the hell is wrong with me?"

"Nothing." Rebecca interrupted. "Nothing is wrong with you."

"But I-"

Rebecca held up a hand to stop her.

"Love Potions." she said simply.

Harry would later wonder how on earth a woman could change her mood so quickly, but alas, much to the disappointment of males all over the world, he never did figure out the inner workings of a woman's mind.

The next few minutes were spent in relative silence, relative in that Harry and Rebecca were silent as opposed to Hermione, who was ranting about red haired Weasels at the top of her voice.

Harry winced as she came up with increasingly elaborate and painful forms of torture that she would like to inflict on certain redheads, and decided then and there that he would do just about anything to ensure Hermione was never that mad at him.

Rebecca, meanwhile, was looking at the brunette in wonder and surprisingly, admiration.

"Ms. Granger." Rebecca called, derailing Hermione's train of thought. "Once you finish your time in the mortal world, come and see me. I have a friend in the Eternal Damnation Department that would absolutely love some of your ideas."

Hermione clamped her mouth shut, blushing a bit as Harry chuckled beside her. She shot him a quick glare, getting instant silence, and turned back to Rebecca.

"Sorry, its just-"

"Rebecca. Call me Rebecca. And like I told Harry, I understand. Let me bring you up to speed on what he knows so far." Rebecca said, before launching into a monologue.

Rebecca described everything she had told Harry before Hermione's arrival, and was not really surprised when Hermione exploded even more violently when she learned that Harry had been dosed with love potions as well as her. The girl broke down when she learned of Harry's multiple deaths, and Harry ended up comforting her as she cried in his arms.

Finally, Hermione composed herself and looked up at Rebecca. She didn't make any move to get out of Harry's embrace though, it did feel really nice, and Harry definitely wasn't complaining.

"How did he die?" Hermione asked, eyes flicking towards Harry.

"Well first time was when his uncle got a little carried away with his punishment after learning about Harry's little apparition mishap at age seven." Rebecca said, looking at a file that hadn't been there a moment ago.

Hermione looked horrified and turned to Harry, who was stoically avoiding her gaze. She decided to put his time before Hogwarts on the list of things to discuss in private later and turned back to Rebecca.

"Second death was when he was killed by a troll while trying to rescue you. Idiot ran in right front of it instead of jumping on its back." Rebecca said, glaring at Harry. Harry grinned sheepishly at Hermione who only hugged him tighter.

"Third time was at the little confrontation with Quirrellmort. He decided that a Dark Lord could figure out the mirror on his own and killed Harry immediately. Fourth time, Lockhart vanished his brains while trying to heal the head would he received from that demented House Elf's bludger." Rebecca said, grimacing. "Let me tell you, that was one big mess."

Hermione looked queasy at this and Harry touched his head, as if checking to see if it was there.

"Then for his fifth death he was bitten by the Basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets, and Fawkes didn't heal him in time. Sixth time he had his soul sucked out of a Dementor because you decided not to disturb the Professor by barging into his compartment." Rebecca said, glaring a bit at Hermione. "That was one of the few times you pissed me off."

Hermione looked guilty that she had inadvertently caused one of Harry's deaths, but Harry gave her a quick reassuring smile, clearly implying that he didn't blame her.

"Seventh time was when he was savaged by were-Lupin before you could lure him away. Eighth time he was roasted alive by a dragon in that bloody tournament, and only barely managed to avoid drowning a few months later. Ninth time he ran into the Veil in the Death Chamber after his godfather while trying to save him. Tenth death was caused due to overdosing of love potions. The Weaslette got impatient and fed him a little too much Amortentia. Eleventh was when the Malfoy boy killed him in his sixth year before Harry could use the Sectumsempra. The last one, of course, was when he walked to the Forbidden Forest and let Riddle kill him." Rebecca said. She sighed and snapped the folder shut.

Hermione was again glaring a bit at Harry after the last death was read, and Harry looked to Rebecca for help.

"Hermione, it was not really his fault that he sacrificed himself. You have to understand that he thought he was a Horcrux and therefore had to die before Voldemort was killed. If anything, it was the greasy git and the meddling old coot who are responsible. That Pensieve had a compulsion charm on it that forced Harry to obey the old bastard's words." Rebecca explained.

Hermione looked a little confused at her words.

"So you're telling me that Snape arranged it so that Harry would kill himself?" Hermione asked after a moment. Rebecca nodded emphatically.

"And he did this on the orders of Dumbledore?" Hermione asked. Rebecca looked thoughtful for a moment.

"Kind of. You see, the old man's original plan was to have Harry die fighting Voldemort, and then step up and finish Voldemort. By this time, Harry would have been firmly in the Weasleys' grasp. After his death, the Potter family fortune would go to them, and through them to Dumbledore." Rebecca explained.

"Are you telling me that all these years, Dumbledore was raising Harry as nothing more than a lamb for slaughter?" Hermione demanded angrily. Harry looked just as angry, but was content to let Hermione take the lead for the moment.

"Pretty much, though his plans were ruined a bit towards the end. Look at his actions, sending Harry to the Dursleys when he knew they were definitely bad gaurdians for any child, let alone Harry. Placing a priceless magical artifact in a school and then employing a dark lord who is after it. Letting a basilisk roam free when he could have easily dealt with it himself, since the Hogwarts wards keep him updated on such things as dark artifacts. He let Sirius Black go to prison for twelve years just so he could have custody of Harry. He was the Chief Warlock for Merlin's sake! He could have scheduled a trial at any time. Then the whole fiasco with the Tournament. Why on earth would he revive it if it was shut down because of loss of life? Then he let the Ministry, the school, everyone, turn on Harry when he could have simply used his bloody pensieve to show Harry's memory of the event and prove he wasn't lying. He let Umbridge run amok, and gave Snape free access to rummage around Harry's mind so he could systematically destroy Harry's mental defenses! You people took five hours to fly to the Ministry, by which time the Order should have been waiting for you. He spent a year telling Harry about 'important information' that he could have given to Harry in a day. He let Draco walk about the halls of a school, even when he knew the little ferret was a Death Eater. He left the burden of the entire war on the shoulders of two teenagers, and I say two because Weasley was absolutely bloody useless to you." Rebecca said, shouting by the end. She sat back in her chair, breathing heavily with her eyes blazing.

Harry and Hermione were watching her with wide eyes, a little scared. Rebecca closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths. After a few minites she calmed down noticeably and looked back at the teens.

"Sorry about that. As I told Harry, Albus Dumbledore is a touchy topic for me. Most of the problems I face while doing my job of keeping Harry alive and on the straight and narrow are caused by that meddling old goat. Sticking his abnormally long and crooked nose where he shouldn't." Rebecca muttered while throwing darts at a poster of the wizened Headmaster that appeared out of nowhere behind Harry and Hermione, forcing them to take cover.

"Yes well, this is the part where you tell us how we can correct all the stuff that went wrong." Harry said hesitantly after she finished with her darts. Rebecca immediately brightened up.

"Oh yes! How did I forget about that? Right, ranting about twinkly eyed manipulators. Yes, so you see Harry, you are a really important person, the whole boy-who-lived thing notwithstanding. You have one last life left, no resurrections after that-"

"Why not?" Hermione asked curiously.

"Because he will have died thirteen times by then." Rebecca said simply.

"There is a reason why that number has such a reputation. It is really taxing on the soul to live more than thirteen times in one body, and any more could lead to the soul's permanent destruction. Of course, after a nice long soak in the sacred baths of heaven, you always have the chance of going for reincarnation, bit I'm getting offtrack here." Rebecca said, shaking her head.

Harry nodded a little distantly while Hermione shook her head, eagerly soaking up all the new and incredibly rare knowledge the Grim Reaper was dispensing. Rebecca grinned at her enthusiasm.

"Don't worry, after you come here when it really your time, you can have access to the library we have. It's the biggest you'll find anywhere." Rebecca said reassuringly. Hermione squealed and nodded happily, bouncing happily.

"Alright, can we get back to the problem at hand?" Harry asked a litle amusedly, lad that Hermione had apparently forgotten her anger a him. Both females immediately blushed a bit and sobered up.

"Right. So are you going back?" Rebecca asked.

Harry and Hermione looked at each other for a long moment and then nodded.

"We are." They said in unison.

* * *

A/N: Alright guys, there's chapter 2. I was originally intending to send them both back in this chapter itself, but it was starting to get a little too long for my liking, and I wasn't going to cut out stuff to make it fit.

So next chapter will have Rebecca setting things up with Harry and Hermione, and they will be returning back to the past.

As for Hermione's mood swings, well she was just in a fight for her life, saw her best friend dead, saw a lot of other people die as well, and then died herself. I think that should be enough to work anyone into a state.

And let me just say, the response was overwhelming! I'm really glad you guys like this story so much!


	3. Chapter 3

**The Last Chance**

**Disclaimer: **Harry Potter and the universe he inhabits do not belong to me. If I did own him, Harry wouldn't be with Ginny, a fan girl who looks like his mother, he would be with Hermione, his loyal best friend who stood with him through just about everything.

Before you begin, the A/N at the bottom is important. Read it.

* * *

**Chapter 3**

"Great!" Rebecca said happily. "So let's-"

"Hold on a minute. I have one condition." Harry said, glancing at Hermione, who smiled encouragingly at him.

"And what's that?" Rebecca asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Hermione comes back with me, or I don't go back either." Harry said, wrapping an arm around the brunette.

Rebecca looked at him for a long moment and then burst out laughing. She stopped when she noticed that both teens were looking a little annoyed.

"Okay, okay. Condition accepted. I just laughed because you were going to get one boon before you were sent back, and you probably made the smartest wish you could have." Rebecca said, smiling at them.

Harry blushed a bit as Hermione hugged him again.

"Although, as she is your soul mate, I think she would be allowed to go with you even if you didn't specifically request it." Rebecca said thoughtfully.

"What exactly does that mean by the way?" Hermione asked, blushing slightly as she glanced at Harry. He looked just as interested as her about the answer, leaning forward slightly.

"Well it basically only means that you two would be as perfectly matched a couple as possible, in every way possible." Rebecca explained.

"Oh." Hermione said quietly, blushing a little harder, Harry almost as red as her.

"Look you two; you've been under the influence of a powerful mind altering potion for over two years. Take some time to think over what your feelings for the other are. I admit that I would like nothing better than to see the two of you get together as a couple, but I would rather it was your own decision and not because it was forced on you." Rebecca said, noticing the sudden tension between the two.

Both of them relaxed a bit, but were still a little stiff. Finally Hermione let out an exasperated sigh.

"Oh this is ridiculous!" Hermione said loudly, slumping back on the couch. Harry was startled at her outburst.

"What?" He asked.

"This! Us!" Hermione said, gesturing between them.

Noticing his hurt look, she immediately amended her statement.

"Harry, I didn't mean that the idea of us getting together was ridiculous, I meant that this bloody tension makes no sense! We've been best friends for over seven years now!" Hermione said, silently begging that he would understand.

Harry's mood immediately improved and he gave her a wry grin.

"Yeah. After facing Dark Lords, dangerous monsters and more, this should actually be a piece of cake!" Harry said.

"Are we agreed then?" Hermione asked.

"Sure. Best friends first. We'll see about soul mates later." Harry said with a reassuring smile. Hermione returned the smile and shot forward to hug him. They were still embracing a few moments later when their moment was disturbed by a cough.

"Er, sorry about that." Rebecca said, not looking the least bit sorry. "But we need to discuss about the details of your return."

Both teens broke apart, blushing.

"Okay one more thing, you know that you don't remember any of your prior visits to me right? Well that's because generally, if we send someone back, we wipe any and all memories of the afterlife." Rebecca said while rifling through her desk.

"I really hope that won't be the case this time. I mean we can't do all the things you told us to if don't remember what we are supposed to do can we?" Hermione asked rhetorically.

"That's what I'm trying to prevent." Rebecca said distractedly. "I got special permission from up high to do whatever I could to help. Now shut up and let me concentrate."

Both teens fell silent as Rebecca dove further into her desk. It wasn't until she had her entire upper body inside a drawer with only her legs on the outside that Harry thought of something.

"Why don't you just use a summoning charm?" Harry asked. Rebecca immediately popped out of the drawer and both women turned to him, looking surprised.

"You know, for whatever you're looking for. You can use magic right? It'll be faster." Harry explained. Both women were still looking surprised.

"I don't know why I didn't think of that." Rebecca said thoughtfully. She shook her head as if to clear it and then snapped her fingers. Instantly, a sheet of paper appeared on the desk.

"Gotcha!" Rebecca said, looking pleased with herself.

"What is it?" Hermione asked Rebecca, who was now studying the paper with a lot of concentration.

"Take out menu for my favorite pizza place. Been looking for it for a long time." Rebecca said as she folded the paper and slipped it into her jacket.

"They have pizza in the afterlife?" Harry asked surprised.

"They have a lot of other things too. None of which are important right now." Rebecca said as she picked up another sheet of paper that appeared on the desk.

"Another take out menu?" Hermione asked, as her right eyebrow twitched.

"Yup. This one isn't really important. Ah here we go. Third times' the charm!" Rebecca said triumphantly as she tossed the crumpled take out menu over her shoulder and straight into the waste basket, holding up another sheet of paper.

This one looked significantly different from the other papers, ao Harry assumed it was somewhat related to their situation.

"Here, sign this." Rebecca said, handing them the form.

Harry took it and looked it over, nodding his head at intervals.

"Right. Didn't understand a thing. Hermione? A little help?" Harry asked, turning to the brunette who was trying to read the form from beside him.

Hermione rolled her eyes at him and accepted the paper. She repeated the same procedure as Harry, the difference being she actually did get what was written. She finally looked up at him, nodding silently.

"It basically says that we can retain our memories from our previous life, but we absolutely cannot tell anybody about it." Hermione said as she placed the form on the table.

"So we can't tell anyone that we are from their future. What happens if we do?" Harry asked Hermione.

"No she means exactly what she said." Rebecca interrupted. "You physically cannot formulate the words to tell anyone not already in the know. Even your memories of this place and your ex-life have an impenetrable shield around them, making them impervious to legilimency. Even truth serum can't force it from you."

Harry nodded thoughtfully.

"Well that takes care of one of my worries." He said, exhaling loudly. Hermione set down the pen after signing her name and looked inquisitively at Harry.

"Snape and Dumbledore are masters of the Mind Arts." Rebecca interrupted again as Harry opened his mouth. "Can't have them knowing about you going back in time."

"I hadn't considered that. Good work Harry. Are you done?" Hermione asked as he set down the pen. Harry nodded and handed the paper to Rebecca who looked it over and nodded.

"Good. Another problem solved. Now we need to figure out when we go back." Rebecca said.

"First year."

"Fourth year."

Both teens spoke at the same time. Then they turned to look at each other.

"You go first." Harry said, inclining his head towards his best friend.

"Well first reason for going back to the start of Hogwarts is that we will have more time to deal with Voldemort and Dumbledore both." Hermione said.

"Yes, but it'll also be a problem. Two first years, even as smart as you were, should not be as powerful or as knowledgeable as us." Harry rebuffed.

"We could be prodigies?" Hermione asked hopefully.

"Hermione, you always were one. But remember, Dumbledore wanted me molded to be his weapon, and he was counting on the Dursleys for that. If I'm too different from what he expects, it'll set off warning bells in his head." Harry said.

"Alright, but apart from that, think of the advantages. We have that much more time to prepare for when Voldemort does come back. We could get Sirius out of Azkaban earlier, stop the Chamber of Secrets from being opened and we can avoid the Weasleys altogether. There's so much we can take care of." Hermione said patiently. Harry looked thoughtful, before shaking his head.

"If the Chamber was not opened we could not have gotten the diary, and raiding Malfoy Manor as two first years is something I don't see happening, and if we didn't then it would keep bugging me. As for Sirius, you know what the Ministry is like, they'll purposefully ignore our attempts at freeing him, no matter what proof we provide. And about the Weasleys, we can get rid of Ron during the Tournament and Ginny was never close till the fifth year. The rest of them we can worry about later, when we know for sure about their intentions towards us." Harry said firmly.

Hermione nodded reluctantly.

"Another thing Hermione. Our first order of business will be getting rid of Voldemort. To do that, we need to get rid of his Horcruxes. Two first years sneaking out of the school is highly suspicious, the Triwizard champion and his best friend sneaking away to practice for the Tournament will be ignored." Harry said, and he could see Hermione was coming around to his way of thinking, which was actually surprising to him, since she was usually the one who won their arguments.

"The tournament also means that most of the school will leave us alone, and no one will find the fact that we're suddenly more proficient at magic suspicious, since we can say that it's because of all the practicing for the Tournament. That should help." Hermione said, nodding.

"And one other thing. The Triwizard tournament is for _adult _witches and wizards." Harry said smugly.

"How does that... oh Harry that's brilliant!" Hermione exclaimed, beaming at him.

"What?" Rebecca asked. The two young adults jumped at the sound of her voice, having forgotten about her presence. They grinned sheepishly, apologizing for ignoring her.

"You said that Harry would take up the mantle of Lord Potter when he was of age, right?" Hermione asked the Grim Reaper, who nodded slowly.

A second later the light bulb went off.

"Oh yes! That's brilliant! The Ministry inadvertently declares him of age when they force him into the tournament, since it's only for adults. I can see why the Sorting Hat wanted you in Slytherin." Rebecca said while reaching up to turn the bulb off.

Hermione turned to Harry, eyebrows raised.

"It's true. But I didn't want to be in the same house as Malfoy so I had it put me in Gryffindor." Harry explained. Hermione chuckled at him before bringing the discussion back on track.

"So Fourth Year? Remember, you'll have to deal with the Tournament and the school turning on you again." Hermione said to Harry.

"Hermione, we spent the last year on the run in the countryside while sleeping in that cold drafty tent. We had the whole damn country hunting us, and we were Undesirables No 1 and 2. Compared to some of the things we have done, the tasks are a cakewalk. And really, do you think that some school kids acting mean because I got selected for the Tournament while they didn't is going to bother me?" Harry asked, giving her a wry grin.

"Well, when you put it that way it does make sense." Hermione admitted. "Alright, fourth year it is."

Harry nodded before they both turned to Rebecca, who was watching them with a smile on her face.

"We're ready. We'll go back to fourth year. To the day the champions are chosen?" Harry said, the last part coming out as a question as he looked towards Hermione, who nodded in confirmation.

"Right. Come along then." Rebecca said happily as she stood up and led them to a door that appeared out of nowhere.

The red haired Grim Reaper led them along several twisting corridors, occasionally pausing to greet a few of her coworkers.

"So any advice you can give us?" Harry asked. Rebecca as they walked. Rebecca hummed softly while considering the question.

"A few things to keep in mind. On, stay loyal to each other. Two, when it comes to everyone else, be sure to check if their motives are genuine, you don't want someone else like Weasley to take his place. Three, be really cautious when dealing with Albus Dumbledore. He's not exactly evil, but he is in fact a manipulative old bastard, who will go to considerable lengths for his 'Greater Good'. Four, learn the Mind Arts. Occlumency is apparently helpful for a lot more than protecting your mind, and you know what Legilimency can be used for. And here we are." Rebecca said, stopping in front of an ornate door. It was labeled 'Resurrection Office' in large black letters above an hourglass. She pushed the door open and beckoned Harry and Hermione to follow.

She headed straight to the receptionist, while Harry and Hermione were gawking at the sights. It looked a lot like the Time Room in the Department of Mysteries, but was far more impressive. A few moments later Rebecca motioned for them to follow her as she walked past the secretary.

"We got chamber three. In here." Rebecca said as she opened a door, revealing an office much like Rebecca's, but this one was not as well furnished.

"How can I help you?" A thin balding man sitting at the desk asked them.

"Grim Reaper Rebecca. This is my client, Harry Potter, and his soul mate Hermione Granger. We're here for a resurrection." Rebecca said as she took a seat.

"Ah. Instant I believe?" The man asked as he reached for a thin folder that appeared on his desk.

"Displaced. Approximately three and a half years." Rebecca said. The man looked at her in disbelief.

"Displaced? Are you sure?" The man asked, and Rebecca nodded, making him sigh in resignation. "You better have authorization."

Rebecca nodded and brought out a scroll from her jacket, handing it to the man. He read through it and set it on the desk, before bending down and extracting from his desk a folder as thick as some of the books Hermione kept for her 'light' reading.

"Right. Fill this up." The man said as he dropped the folder in front of Harry with a loud thud, before removing another and dropping it in front of Hermione.

Both Harry and Hermione stared at the massive pile of paper in front of them with disbelief etched in their features.

"All of this?" Harry croaked.

"All of this. It's one of the few ways we get to annoy pesky little heroes who make trouble for us by dying before their time." The man snapped, making Harry wince.

"And that's not even mentioning all the trouble that's going to be caused by having to reset the timeline! Do you have any idea of how many souls will have to have their memories erased before they are sent back?" the man shouted hysterically before dissolving into sobs.

After several harrowing hours, including several empty ink pots and cramps in their hands, Harry and Hermione finally finished working their way through the mountain of paper. By this time, even Hermione had gotten tired of all the writing, which was saying something. Rebecca had gotten the man to calm down, and they were chatting away while drinking some tea, much to the consternation of both Harry and Hermione.

"There. Done." Hermione said as she pushed away the mountain of paper in front of her. Harry was massaging his abused hand, while glaring balefully at Rebecca and the man.

"Wonderful!" the man said as he put down his tea. He quickly flipped through the papers and nodded to himself. Finally he stuffed both folders into a filing cabinet and pulled out a sheet of paper from his desk.

"Okay. It's all in order. You will wake up in your bodies on the 31st day of October, in the year 1994. You will return all the memories you have from the last time you went through your life? Huh. That's rare. Anyway. Your Grim Reaper has permission to visit you from time to time? Well that's ever rarer. Never mind. You're good to go." The man said as he read through the paper.

"Have fun! And don't die!" Rebecca said happily and waved to them. Then the man pressed a big red button that appeared on the top of his desk. Instantly both Harry and Hermione had a sensation of falling as the chairs they were in and the floor below them vanished. All went black for a second and then there was a bright white flash of light. They opened their eyes to look around when a loud voice called.

"Harry Potter!"

Harry looked towards the source of the sound and was surprised to find Dumbledore standing beside the Goblet of Fire with a piece of paper in his hand, staring right at him.

* * *

A/N: And they're back!

There's chapter three. Hope you like it. I'm really pleased by the response to this story! Over a hundred favorites, and about twice as many followers! Thanks a lot for the love people!

I tried to include some things that always struck me as inexplicable in other back in time stories. For example, Harry goes back in time and saves Sirius from dying. But if Sirius' soul has already passed on, does it come back with Harry? And if does, doesn't it mean that the whole world went back in time? What happens to the memories of the other people? Déjà vu could be because of incomplete memory wipes, happening when a person actually _has _had the same thing happen to them before, only they don't remember it properly. I could go on for hours on this, but I'll stop now.

**Important: **Updates from now will be few and far in between, as in every once in two weeks or so. I have another story ongoing, which I will also update with the same frequency. Reason for this is that I start college next week, and my writing time will be reducing drastically.

However, rest assured that I am NOT going to abandon the story, even if I don't update with regularity. I hate having unfinished business, so I will make sure I see this to completion.

Thanks for reading!


	4. Chapter 4

**The Last Chance**

**Disclaimer: **Harry Potter and the universe he inhabits do not belong to me. If I did own him, Harry would have asked Hermione to the Yule Ball, instead of lamenting about the fact that there was no girl for him go to the Ball with.

That being said, a few of the lines in this chapter are taken directly from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, and the credit for them goes to J. K. Rowling.

* * *

**Chapter 4 **

"Harry Potter!"

Harry looked towards the source of the sound and was surprised to find Dumbledore standing beside the Goblet of Fire with a piece of paper in his hand, staring right at him.

Harry groaned as he realized exactly when he had been sent.

"A little heads up would have been good." He muttered, soft enough that only Hermione, who was right beside him, heard. Her lips twitched a bit as she looked around.

Everyone in their vicinity was staring right at Harry, who was cradling his head in his hands.

"Harry Potter!" Dumbledore shouted.

"Go on Harry. I'll wait for you." Hermione said quietly as she pushed him off the bench.

Harry got up and looked towards Dumbledore's beard. He didn't want to risk opening his mind to the man's legilimency probes, and it would be that way till he mastered Occlumency.

"Step up here Mr. Potter." Dumbledore said grimly.

Harry nodded and walked towards the head table, and just like before, felt all the eyes in the Great Hall on him as he walked between the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff tables.

"Through the door, Mr. Potter." Dumbledore said as he reached the front of the Hall. Harry nodded, still not looking at the Headmaster as he walked towards the side chamber.

He reached the chamber and stepped through. From his memories of last time, he knew the way that events would proceed.

Viktor Krum, Cedric Diggory, and Fleur Delacour were grouped around the fire. They looked strangely impressive, silhouetted against the flames. Krum, hunched-up and brooding, was leaning against the mantelpiece, slightly apart from the other two. Cedric was standing with his hands behind his back, staring into the fire. Fleur Delacour looked around when Harry walked in and threw back her sheet of long, silvery hair.

"What is it?" she said. "Do zey want us back in ze Hall?"

It suddenly struck him just how much of a snob she had been before he had come to know her better. It had been only after he had rescued her sister during the second task that she had given any sort of respect. Of course she had gotten much better later on, but when he compared her to the woman under who's roof he had been living a few days ago, this Fleur Delacour came across as a complete bitch.

Before he could answer however, there was a sound of scurrying feet behind him, and Ludo Bagman entered the room. He took Harry by the arm, much to Harry's annoyance, and led him forward.

"Extraordinary!" he muttered, squeezing Harry's arm. "Absolutely extraordinary! Gentlemen . . . lady," he added, approaching the fireside and addressing the other three. "May I introduce — incredible though it may seem — the fourth Triwizard champion!"

By now, Harry had had enough and he shook Bagman off his arm, scowling at him.

"Champion or not, I would suggest that you do not manhandle me Mr. Bagman." Harry said coldly as he moved towards a chair.

Bagman looked a little flustered at this, while the other Champions looked at the man in disbelief.

Fleur however, just like last time, smiled condescendingly as she looked at the two newcomers.

"Oh, vairy funny joke, Meester Bagman." she said as she tossed her hair.

"Joke?" Bagman repeated, bewildered. "No, no, not at all! Harry's name just came out of the Goblet of Fire!"

Krum's thick eyebrows contracted slightly. Cedric was still looking politely bewildered. Fleur frowned.

"But evidently zair 'as been a mistake," she said contemptuously to Bagman. "'E cannot compete. 'E is too young!"

"You know, I was too 'young' when I offed the most feared Dark Lord in recent history. Only fifteen months old as a matter of fact. Now I'm fourteen. You want to take that back yet?" Harry asked the Veela, who suddenly lost all her poise as Harry glared at her.

The door behind them opened again, and a large group of people came in: Dumbledore, followed closely by Barty Crouch Senior, Igor Karkaroff, Olympe Maxime, Minerva McGonagall, and Severus Snape, who sneered at Harry as soon as he entered. Harry returned the look with interest, but with his eyes fixed a foot above the man's greasy hair.

Harry heard the buzzing of the hundreds of students on the other side of the wall, before Professor McGonagall closed the door.

"Madame Maxime!" said Fleur at once, regaining her composure now that she had someone to back her up, striding over to her headmistress. "Zey are saying zat zis little boy is to compete also!"

Harry's eyes narrowed at the girl, which went unnoticed as all eyes turned towards Maxime as she pulled herself to her full height.

The conversation went on as the last time till-

"It's no one's fault but Potter's, Karkaroff," said Snape softly. His black eyes were alight with malice. "Don't go blaming Dumbledore for Potter's determination to break rules. He has been crossing lines ever since he arrived here —"

Harry ruthlessly suppressed the urge to pull his wand and hex the man into oblivion. How on Earth did Dumbledore ever think Snape would have any other feeling for Harry other than hate? Even his last act had been to ensure that Harry would end up dead.

"Thank you, Severus," said Dumbledore firmly, and Snape went quiet, though his eyes still glinted malevolently through his curtain of greasy black hair.

Dumbledore was now looking down at Harry, who was pointedly refusing to look the older man in the eyes, choosing to stare at his crooked nose instead.

"Did you put your name into the Goblet of Fire, Harry?" he asked calmly.

"No," said Harry coolly. He was very aware of everybody watching him closely. Snape made a soft noise of impatient disbelief in the shadows, and Harry shot him a filthy look.

"Did you ask an older student to put it into the Goblet of Fire for you?" said Professor Dumbledore, ignoring Snape.

"No," said Harry, still calmly.

"Ah, but of course 'e is lying!" cried Madame Maxime.

Harry so desperately wanted to snap back at her, but went back to tuning out the conversation again, remembering how it had played out. All he wanted was for all those present to acknowledge that Harry would have to compete. He had to let events proceed as they had until then, and had Hermione heard his impulsive retort to Fleur and Bagman, she definitely would have smacked him upside the head for acting without thinking.

He watched disinterestedly as the conversation went on, with the polyjuiced Barty Crouch Junior soon joining them. Harry had to admit it; the man was a master actor. He was sure that Dumbledore knew exactly who the man was, but the rest of the people in the room were perfectly fooled.

And then they finally got the part where Dumbledore declared that Harry was going to be participating.

"Well, shall we crack on, then?" Bagman said, rubbing his hands together and smiling around the room. "Got to give our champions their instructions, haven't we? Barty, want to do the honors"

Harry smiled inwardly. Perfect, he thought, now all I've got to do is claim Head of House status and get Hermione under my protection. Then they could safely go about doing what needed to be done.

He listened as Crouch outlined the first task in brief. That was soon over, and the meeting spilt up. Maxime took Fleur and immediately led away, and Karkaroff did the same with Krum a moment later.

"Harry, Cedric, you best head off to bed. I'm sure Gryffindor and Hufflepuff will be waiting to celebrate with you, and it would be shame to deprive them of a chance to make a great deal of mess and noise." Dumbledore said.

Harry nodded and followed, bouncing around inwardly yet managing to keep a straight face. Cedric followed him out.

"So," said Cedric, with a slight smile. "We're playing against each other again!"

"I s'pose," said Harry said nonchalantly as he looked around the empty hall.

"So . . . tell me . . ." said Cedric as they reached the entrance hall, which was now lit only by torches in the absence of the Goblet of Fire. "How did you get your name in?"

Before Harry could reply, a voice hidden in the shadows answered him.

"He didn't. Though I doubt whatever we say will make a difference, so why bother?" Hermione said as she stepped out of the shadows.

"Ah... sure. Whatever you say." Cedric said looking between the two fourth years, his tone carrying a hint of sarcasm. It was clear to both of the now teenaged time travelers that he didn't believe them. He turned and headed off away from them as they watched his retreating figure.

"Everything go alright then?" Hermione asked Harry after the Hufflepuff left.

"Yeah. I'm officially the fourth Triwizard champion and an adult as recognized by the Ministry and Wizengamot." Harry said happily. "What are you doing down here anyway?"

"I did tell you I'd wait, didn't I?" Hermione shot back. "About the adult thing- do you think you can claim your inheritance soon?"

"Uh-huh. And as soon as I do, you're coming under protection of House Potter. We'll just need your parents' permission." Harry said. Hermione nodded and silence fell between them as they walked through the empty corridors.

"You know, it just struck me a few minutes ago that a lot of people we knew before we came back are going to seem really out of character now." Harry said suddenly as he walked up the staircase with Hermione.

Hermione snorted.

"Tell me about it. Look at Neville for one. This Neville is definitely not going to kill a ten foot long snake belonging to Voldemort with a sword." Hermione said shaking her head. Harry laughed at that.

"I had the same experience with Fleur. Compared to Fleur Weasley, Fleur Delacour was a real pain in the arse!" Harry said.

"Ze accent?" Hermione asked, smirking.

"Ze litle boy comment." Harry grumbled. "Couldn't even say anything because I didn't want to risk things changing till they finished announcing the task."

Hermione nodded, giving him an understanding smile.

"It's going to be kinda hard to reconcile these people with the ones we knew, isn't it?" Hermione asked. Harry nodded quietly.

"Hermione?" Harry asked, and the brunette immediately looked up at his tone. "What do you want do about Ron?"

She immediately understood his problem.

"Let things play out as they will. I know we thought he was our best friend, but what he did to us was unforgivable, and I would like nothing better than to curse him into insanity for dosing us with potions. Even more so because we actually trusted him. But, this Ron hasn't done anything of the sort yet, so I suggest we watch him carefully. He takes one step out of line, and he's finished." Hermione said. Harry nodded reluctantly, but before they could talk about anything else, they had reached the portrait of the Fat Lady, who was standing gossiping with the witch he had seen in the meeting room a while before.

"Triwizard champion, eh?" She asked. Harry sighed.

"Balderdash." He said gruffly.

"It most certainly isn't!" The pale witch said indignantly.

"No, no, Vi, it's the password," said the Fat Lady soothingly, and she swung forward on her hinges to let Harry and Hermione into the common room.

The blast of noise that met Harry's ears when the portrait opened almost knocked him backward into Hermione. Next thing he knew, he was being wrenched inside the common room by about a dozen pairs of hands, and was facing the whole of Gryffindor House, all of whom were screaming, applauding, and whistling.

"You should've told us you'd entered!" bellowed Fred; he looked half annoyed, half deeply impressed.

"How did you do it without getting a beard? Brilliant!" roared George.

Suddenly, Angelina had swooped down upon him; "Oh if it couldn't be me, at least it's a Gryffindor —"

"You'll be able to pay back Diggory for that last Quidditch match, Harry!" shrieked Katie Bell, another of the Gryffindor Chasers.

"We've got food, Harry, come and have some —"

By now, both Harry and Hermione were starting to become annoyed.

Hermione suddenly pulled out her wand and fired off a loud bang that was heard clearly even over the din in the common room.

Silence fell immediately as everyone turned to look at the annoyed brunette.

"Thank you. Now, if you will be quiet for a minute, Harry has something to say." Hermione said as she stowed her wand back in her robes. Harry smiled gratefully at her and then turned to look at the assembled Gryffindors.

"I'll only say this once. I did not enter my name in the Goblet of Fire. However, all the officials including our dear Headmaster stated explicitly that I would have to participate, so I have no choice. Whether you believe this or not is completely up to you." Harry said.

He then turned and waved goodnight to Hermione before disappearing up the stairs, with Hermione following his lead and heading to her own dormitories moments later. They left silence and disbelief in their wake. Neither had any illusions whatsoever that they could get too many people to believe in Harry's innocence, though neither particularly cared.

Harry reached his dormitory and immediately headed for his bed. He hadn't slept properly for almost two whole days now, and was mentally exhausted after all he had gone through, though his physical self had not done anything particularly strenuous. He pulled the curtains shut and set wards around himself, a habit from the days on the run, falling asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.

* * *

A/N: And there's chapter four.

Now, as I stated before and as you probably figured, a few lines have been lifted from GoF. The reason for this is given in the chapter itself, but just so you know, Harry wanted to preserve the timeline long enough to get himself declared a champion.

In the process, two major Department heads, the Chief Warlock and Supreme Mugwump and Headmaster of Hogwarts, along with the Heads of the two other major schools declare him an adult. This gives him a lot of freedom in his actions, and will be highly important later. Here on out, canon presence will be negligible.

Also, the original idea belongs to robst, as seen in his story 'Can't Have It Both Ways'. Read it, it's good.

Hope you like this!


	5. Chapter 5

**The Last Chance**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Harry Potter, or Harry would never have had the brilliant idea to try to out fly a bloody Dragon.

* * *

**Chapter 5**

Harry Potter was rudely awakened from his sleep by a bang followed by a loud yelp. A very familiar holly and phoenix wand shot into his hand from its place above his pillow, and a blink of an eye later, he was sitting upright, his wand pointed in the general direction of the sound.

Then it all came back to him. He was at Hogwarts. He was fourteen years old again. He was not in the middle of a war.

Heaving a sigh of relief, he flicked his wand, muttering under his breath as he dispelled the wards he had put up.

Wrenching the curtains apart, Harry looked around for the source of the disturbance. His annoyance reached even higher levels when he saw a familiar red head frantically flapping his left hand, which had developed angry red burns.

'Serves him right for poisoning me and Hermione.' Harry thought, before he put on a mask of concern.

"Ron? What happened mate?" Harry asked, careful to keep his tone friendly.

Ron stopped his actions and turned to glare hatefully at him.

"It's no business of yours Potter. You can go back and get your beauty sleep. Wouldn't want our Champion to miss that, would we?" He spat, before stomping out of the room.

Harry looked thoroughly bewildered, and turned to look questioningly at Dean, who was in the bed next to his.

"What's gotten into him?" Harry asked.

Dean shrugged his shoulders as he tried to stop his laughter at Ron's antics.

"He's angry because he thinks you put his name into the Goblet and didn't tell him about it." Neville said quietly.

"But didn't I announce just yesterday night that I didn't do it?" Harry asked, frowning.

"Well yeah, mate. I reckon he doesn't believe you though." Seamus said as he walked past the foot of the bed on his way to the bathroom.

Harry sighed dejectedly, but unlike all his previous actions, this wasn't an act. While Ron Weasley wasn't exactly his 'best mate' any more, or even someone he cared much for any longer, he really had believed that for a good seven years, and the fact that the guy who you thought was your best friend was really a rotten jerk was a tough pill to swallow.

"Well if he doesn't want to believe it, it's his choice. I'm not going to bother explaining myself to the prat. I've got other things to worry about." Harry said angrily as he got off the bed.

After a quick shower and getting dressed, Harry rushed down to the common room. He really needed to find Hermione and make sure that she hadn't blown up at Ron.

Well he just needed to make sure she had left him alive at the very least.

Hermione could be really vindictive at times, as Rita Skeeter had learnt the hard way, and absolutely loathed love potions, knowing them to be no better than the Imperius Curse in potion form. The fact that Ron had used them on her and Harry was one of the worst crimes he could have committed in her eyes, and there was no way she would let that lie.

Sure enough, the moment he arrived in the common room, he saw a familiar head full of bushy brown hair in an armchair by the fireplace.

Harry quickly walked over, ignoring the whispers that had broken out at his appearance.

"Morning Hermione." He said as he sat down in the armchair beside her.

"Morning Harry." She said tightly, staring down at the book in her lap.

"Ron?" Harry asked softly. Hermione almost growled at the mention of the name, but calmed herself at Harry's warning look, taking slow deep breaths.

"That utter arse had the audacity to come here and badmouth you for being a champion, and then went on to interrogate me as to why I had been with you when you came back yesterday. Then, when I told him why I was with you, he had the bloody nerve to presume to tell me that I shouldn't stay around you, because you were a lying, cheating, attention seeking prat. The only thing that prevented him from getting hexed is that Twins dragged him away." Hermione said, fuming.

Harry sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

"Ah well. We can't help it if he's decided he wants to be a prat." Harry said.

"He always was one. We just chose to ignore it." Hermione shot back. Harry winced at her tone, and Hermione's countenance immediately softened.

"I'm not taking a dig at you Harry. I chose to go along with his behavior as much as you did." Hermione said, patting his knee.

Harry nodded and gave her a quick smile, before he remembered the reason he had been in a hurry.

"Hermione?" Harry asked hesitantly. The brunette looked up from her book.

"Do you want to get the emancipation today itself?" Harry asked her quietly after making sure no one was around. Hermione immediately sat up straight.

"Oh Merlin I forgot about that what with Ron acting up." Hermione said wincing slightly.

"Well?" Harry asked.

"Sure. We can sneak away to Gringotts after breakfast." Hermione said, nodding to herself.

"Oh good. And about breakfast, do you think we can skip the Great Hall?" Harry asked hopefully.

Hermione smiled at him and nodded, stuffing her book in her bag. Harry stood up and offered her his hand, which Hermione happily took, before leading her out of the common room.

"Room of Requirement?" Harry asked once they were out.

"Sure." Hermione said, before a thought struck her.

"Oh Harry! Dobby!" Hermione cried out suddenly, pulling Harry to a stop.

Harry just looked confused at her outburst.

There was a pop behind Hermione and they both immediately spun around.

"Yes Miss Grangey? How can Dobby help?" Dobby asked, and then he spotted Harry.

"Master Harry Potter Sir! Dobby is honored to see you again!" Dobby squeaked excitedly. Harry couldn't help the wide grin that split his face, and discretely wiped a few tears from his eyes. The last time he had seen the House Elf was when he buried him at Shell Cottage.

Hermione smiled understandingly at him and distracted Dobby for a minute.

"Dobby, Harry and I need to discuss something important with you, but it needs to be in private. Can you come back when we call you again?" Hermione asked him kindly.

Dobby nodded rapidly, his ears flapping.

"Oh! Could you also bring Winky along with you?" Hermione asked just before he vanished. Dobby nodded again and disappeared.

"Hermione, are you going to do what I think you are going to do?" Harry asked as Hermione turned towards him.

"What do you think I am going to do Harry?" Hermione asked as she walked past him.

"You know very well what." Harry said as he followed her.

"Of course I do Harry. It would be very silly if I didn't know what I was going to so, wouldn't it?" Hermione retorted, still not looking him.

"You do know that you are sounding remarkably like Luna, don't you?" Harry asked exasperatedly.

Hermione looked back and scowled at him.

"Low blow. Very low blow." Hermione said as Harry smirked at her.

"But still true." Harry shot back. Hermione sighed and shook her head.

"Speaking of Luna, we need to talk to her soon." Hermione said. Harry nodded, completely in agreement.

"Yes we do, but you aren't going to distract me. I know you far too well." Harry said. Hermione smiled at him and came to a stop of a blank wall opposite the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy.

"If you already know what I'm going to do Harry, why ask?" Hermione said as a door appeared in front of them.

"Confirmation. I've recently learnt never to go off half cocked; it can get me to Rebecca's office. And I don't want to go back to that place any time soon." Harry said as he led the way into a nice, comfy looking room.

He headed to a pair of armchairs that were set by a merrily crackling fire, Hermione following him.

"Okay, spit it out Hermione." Harry said as he settled down.

"In a moment." Hermione said as she sat down beside him. "Dobby. Winky."

The two House Elves immediately popped in, with Winky swaying drunkenly.

"Yes Miss Grangey?" Dobby squeaked.

"Okay Dobby, Winky, how would you like a job?" Hermione asked, looking closely at the two Elves.

Harry had seen it coming, but was still a little surprised that Hermione had done it. Dobby, as expected, was bouncing about excitedly, looking at Harry expectantly.

The biggest change however, was in Winky. She suddenly sobered up, and looked at Hermione with large, hopeful eyes.

"Miss has work for Winky?" Winky asked hesitantly, and Hermione nodded, smiling slightly.

"But Winky is being a disgraced elf! Why is Miss wanting Winky?" Winky asked, tearing up a little.

Hermione kneeled down and looked Winky in the eye as she spoke.

"Winky, you are not a disgraced elf. I know you can't speak too badly of your previous masters, but what Mr. Crouch did to you was not fair. He blamed you for something you didn't do, and fired you for no reason whatsoever. I want to offer you a job, because I think you are a wonderful Elf, if you want one that is." Hermione said softly.

By now, Winky was shaking slightly, and after Hermione finished, she nodded rapidly.

"Winky be wanting to work again Miss. Will yous be taking Winky as yous House Elf?" Winky asked.

"I accept Winky as my House Elf." Hermione said.

There was a bright flash of light between the two that caused Harry to cover his eyes. He blinked rapidly, trying to remove the spots from his vision.

When he could see properly, he noticed that both Dobby and Winky were looking at in awe.

"Mistress Grangey is being a very powerful witch! Winky is happy to serve Mistress Grangey!" Winky squeaked happily.

Hermione smiled at her enthusiasm.

"Thank you Winky. Could you bring us something to eat quickly?" Hermione asked. Winky nodded and popped out, and Hermione turned her attention to Harry.

"Well? What on earth are you waiting for?" Hermione asked him, raising an eyebrow.

"What?" Harry asked confused.

"Dobby. Take him as your House Elf." Hermione explained.

"You're sure you won't kill me if I do that?" Harry asked warily. House Elves had been a touchy subject for Hermione the first time around, and this was really out of character for her.

Hermione shook her head, smiling amusedly.

"I'll explain, but first you should finish bonding with Dobby." She said.

Harry looked at her for a long moment, and them turned his attention to Dobby.

"You're sure you want this?" Harry asked the little guy, who nodded rapidly, ears flapping.

"Dobby is wanting to be Master Harry Potter Sir's House Elf!" Dobby said happily.

"Then I accept Dobby as my House Elf." Harry said, grinning. There was an even brighter flash of light than between Hermione and Winky. Dobby was frozen in place, an ecstatic expression on his face.

"Master Harry Potter Sir is being a very great wizard! Dobby is being honored to serve Master Harry Potter Sir!" Dobby squealed, dashing forward to hug Harry's leg.

Hermione couldn't help but laugh at the little guys antics. Harry looked up at her, grinning.

"Dobby, you were working at Hogwarts, right?" Harry asked, continuing when Dobby nodded. "Then you can continue that, but keep an eye out for anything out of the ordinary. I'll call you when I need you."

"Yes Master Harry Potter Sir!" Dobby said, nodding happily.

"Dobby, just can me Harry. Okay?" Harry asked.

The House Elf looked unsure of himself, making Harry sigh.

"Alright then. Master Harry if you must. But nothing else." Harry said. Dobby again perked up.

"Dobby can do that Master Harry! Dobby be going now." Dobby said, popping out a second later.

Winky popped in at this moment, bearing two huge trays laden with breakfast.

"Thank you Winky." Hermione said, as she helped herself to some toast.

"Winky be happy to serve Mistress!" Winky squeaked. Hermione cringed at the title and then glared at Harry, who was snickering at her expression while munching on his toast.

"Quiet Harry. Thank you Winky. I'll call you again later. Will you be fine working at Hogwarts for now?" Hermione asked. Winky nodded and popped out.

"Okay Hermione. Explain." Harry said seriously, staring at the brunette, who straightened up, going into what Harry termed as her lecture mode.

"It's actually quite simple Harry. I found a book on House Elves in the library at Grimmauld Place. It was pretty detailed, and that was where I learned about the bond between an Elf and its Master." Hermione said. Harry nodded, silently gesturing for her to continue.

"Its a symbiotic relationship, not the slave bond I had thought it was before. The Wizard or Witch who bonds with a House Elf gets someone to work for them. The House Elf, though, actually gets the better deal. They're magical creatures, and as such, they need magic to survive. Unlike us humans, they don't regenerate magic when they use up some, and they need the bond to keep them healthy. They can survive without it, of course, but its really not good for them. The power a House Elf can wield is directly proportional to how strong it's Master or Mistress is. For example, the House Elves here at Hogwarts are bonded to the castle itself, and they receive their magic from a ley line directly beneath the castle, which is why such a huge population is possible." Hermione said.

Harry's eyes were slightly glazed over by the she finished. Hermione smacked his arm, bringing him back to Earth.

"Right. So why did you decide to get Dobby and Winky bonded to us?" Harry asked, making Hermione roll her eyes.

"Weren't you listening? They need the bond to stay healthy. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely abhor the way some of the purebloods treat their House Elves, and I will make sure that even if they aren't freed, the House Elves will at least be treated with some respect. And one other reason is that we have firsthand experience how useful they can be. Look at Dobby- all those wards at Malfoy Manor and he pops right past them without a second thought." Hermione said.

Harry nodded finally, and then frowned in thought.

"But how are you going to explain your sudden change of heart about S.P.E.W.?" Harry asked.

"Oh I didn't think about that." Hermione said, chewing her lip in thought.

"Don't." Harry said suddenly.

"What?" Hermione asked, confused.

"That thing with your lip. Don't do it. It's distracting me." Harry said.

Hermione blushed a bit at the way Harry was staring, and immediately left her lip alone.

"Right. About S.P.E.W. It's not like I'm abandoning it." Hermione said, and then continued on seeing Harry's confused expression. "It'll focus on improving their standard of living at the very least. We can always say I had a talk with Dobby and he explained how things were to me."

"That could work." Harry agreed, nodding.

"Good. That's one thing settled then." Hermione said as she settled in her chair. "Now we need to discuss your emancipation, and how to go about messing up Dumbledore's plans, and ridding the world of Riddle."

* * *

A/N: And that's chapter four. They're back, and they're already getting ready to shake things up.

A lot of people asked if Harry was going to do something like swearing an oath or something to prove that he didn't willing participate in the tournament.

Well, I believe I already answered that in an earlier chapter when Harry and Hermione were discussing the merits of going back to fourth year. They have stuff to do that will require secrecy, and having the rest of the school alienate itself from them plays along nicely with what they need to do.

Hope this chapter was good, and thanks for reading!


	6. Chapter 6

**The Last Chance**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Harry Potter, but if I did, Wormtail would have been eaten by Crookshanks.

**A/N: **Okay, for those of you who asked why you got a notification about the sixth chapter being up when it wasn't, that was my fault.

One of the reviewers pointed out a bloody huge mistake I'd made, and I took down the chapter to check it over again.

So here you go, chapter 6, for real this time.

* * *

**Chapter 6**

Hermione poked her head out of the trapdoor in the basement of Honeydukes. Seeing no one around, she silently lifted the wooden door and climbed out gracefully. She held it up, looking around as a second head popped out, this one belonging to one Harry Potter.

"Alright Hermione, get under the Cloak, quick." Harry whispered as he held it open for her.

The brunette quickly squeezed in beside Harry and he wrapped the Cloak securely around the both of them. They stealthily proceeded up the stairs and gently pushed the door open. Making sure no one was in sight, they let themselves into the front of the store.

Unfortunately, seconds after they exited the back room, the shopkeeper, suddenly appeared in front of them. Harry just barely managed to push Hermione to the side, flattening her against the wall and squishing himself against her.

The held their breaths, not daring to make one sound as the man walked by them. Once he was safely in the back, and the two teens were sure he wasn't able to see them, both Harry and Hermione let out a sigh of relief.

It was then that they realized exactly how close they were to each other. They broke apart immediately, huge blushes adorning their faces.

"W-well we should g-get going before he comes back." A very flustered Hermione stammered out.

"Yeah. Yeah, let's do that. Come on?" Harry said, fighting a blush as he caught Hermione's hand and pulled her alongside him.

They made their way through the village and headed in the direction away from Hogwarts, towards the hills.

Harry looked around as they made their way through the deserted village. He had only seen it this deserted once before, and that time he had been running for his life from Dementors and Death Eaters.

"I know what you're thinking about Harry. We're back here to make sure that things like that don't happen this time." Hermione said as she gently squeezed his hand. Harry nodded, choosing to stay silent as he led the way.

A few minutes later, they had left the village behind and made their way into the forest till they were safely out of sight.

"Are you sure we're still be able to Apparate? I'd hate to come back all this time only to die by splinching." Harry said worriedly.

"Don't worry Harry. Apparition is more of a mental discipline than a physical one." Hermione said reassuringly. "Actually truth be told, so is all of magic. Otherwise people like Dumbledore wouldn't be as strong as they are that age. You see, magic is all about intent. As long as you're able to focus your will, your magic can make it happen. It's the main principle behind accidental magic, you see-"

"Hermione. You're rambling." Harry said, cutting her off mid-speech. "I'll listen to magical theories all you want, but right now we're kind of on a mission."

Hermione blushed a bit and nodded. Grabbing Harry's hand and pulling the Invisibility Cloak tight around herself, she turned around on the spot-

Only to lose her balance and go crashing to the ground, pulling Harry down with her.

They landed in a pile of arms and legs and Cloak, and if a third person had walked by at that moment it would have looked remarkably like- well let's just say it was a pretty compromising position.

It seems they realized it too, because a moment later they were standing up, blushing up a storm and unable to meet each other's eyes.

* * *

Far away in a beautiful office, a certain red haired Grim Reaper was giggling as she looked at the floating television screen in front of her, popping another piece of popcorn into her mouth.

"Oh those two look so cuuuute!" She squealed.

"Yeah, I should be getting grandbabies soon at this rate." he redhead beside her said as she bounced in her seat.

"Lily you know that that those two are physically only fourteen and fifteen right? The raven haired man beside her asked, looking at her strangely.

"James, they're eighteen." Lily said condescendingly. "So what if they look fourteen?"

"Uh yeah, sure. Whatever you say dear." James said.

"You're not against me getting my grandbabies are you?" Lily asked as a dangerous gleam entered her eyes.

"N-No dear! Of course not! Why on earth would I ever think such a thing?" James said, waving his arms frantically in front of him.

Ding-Dong!

"Oh! That must be the pizza! I'll just go and get it!" James said, disappearing from the room almost immediately, leaving behind two giggling redheads.

* * *

Now, back with our two protagonists.

"Hermione?" Harry asked, trying to bring his blush back under control.

"Y-Yes?" Hermione replied, taking deep breaths to calm herself.

"You need a wand for Apparition." Harry said, and Hermione had a sudden strong urge to kick herself for such a stupid mistake.

"Sorry." She muttered as she pulled her wand from her back pocket and extended a hand towards Harry, who took it immediately. "Hold on."

And with a quiet crack, both vanished from the spot.

* * *

Far away, in a slightly dark back alley on the city of London, two figures appeared out of thin air with a crack, scaring off a cat that was rooting around in the trash.

"Are you still sure we can Apparate?" Came a sarcastic voice from one of the figures.

"Shut up Harry. We're just around the corner from the Leaky Cauldron. Now hold still." The second person, a girl, said as she raised a wooden stick in the face of the first, a boy.

"Ow!"

"That was for the sarcasm. Now come on." The girl said as both figures vanished again.

The unnoticed drunk lying at the end of the alley raised the bottle of rum in his hands up to his eyes, squinting at it, before chucking it into a a nearby trash bin.

* * *

The door to the Leaky Cauldron opened wide, allowing a draft of air flow in. The barman, Tom, peered curiously at it before a nondescript middle aged couple stepped in.

"G'day. Can I get ya anything?" Tom asked.

"Oh no, we're just passing through. Have a bit of business with Gringotts." The man said with a as he grasped the woman's hand leading her toward the back.

"Alright then. Good day!" Tom said as he waved them off.

The couple waved back and walked into the back room. The man pulled out a wand and tapped the wall, and just like that, they had a brand new opening out into what looked like a Renaissance Fair.

"Come on Harry. And don't forget what the plan is." The woman muttered softly as she grasped the man's hand.

"Sure, sure. It's not like it's going to make a difference. Or did you forget the last time we tried to sneak into Gringotts Hermione?" Harry asked, scoffing slightly.

"Shut it you. At least this time I'm not imitating Bellatrix. Merlin, that woman was so foul." Hermione said, shuddering slightly.

Harry wrapped an arm around her and pulled her closer. He knew that Hermione had had quite a few bad nights owing to the torture she had been put through by Bellatrix when they had been captured at Malfoy Manor.

"Thanks." Hermione muttered quietly.

Harry nodded silently, before changing the topic to try and improve the girl's mood.

"You know, it's quite nice to be able to just walk about without being stared at continuously with adoration or loathing." Harry said, looking around Diagon Alley, which was lightly populated at best right then. "You're really good with those glamour charms."

"Yeah, yeah. Enough with the flattery Harry." Hermione said.

"I could have done without the stinging hex though."

"Oh shut up you. And be careful now. We're here." Hermione said as they approached a white marble building with Gringotts written in large gold letters above the entrance.

Both of them were slightly apprehensive, seeing as how things had gone the last time they had been inside the Goblin-run Wizard bank.

"Well, here's to not breaking out riding on a dragon." Harry muttered as they both ascended the steps leading to the doorways.

They both nodded politely to the goblin guards as they passed by, getting bows in return.

Entering the enormous lobby, they both looked around before approaching an empty counter, taking note of the bored looking goblin sitting behind it.

"Yes, how may I help you?" the goblin asked, sitting slightly straighter.

"We'd like a meeting with the Potter Accounts Manager, and we'd like it to be discrete." Harry said quietly, lifting a bang of hair to reveal the lightning scar that Hermione had left in while applying the glamour.

The goblin merely sneered in return.

"You do realize human, that you're not the first one to try faking a lightning scar to get to the Potter fortunes?" the goblin said snidely.

Harry narrowed his eyes before he pulled out his Gringotts key and slapped it on the counter.

"Is that proof enough?" Harry asked sharply.

The goblin's eyes widened comically as he examined the key presented to him, mentally cursing his earlier words, which must just have earned him dragon duty for insulting a valued client.

"M-Mr. P-Potter! So very sorry for the rudeness! It's just that-"

"Save it. Now lead me to my accounts manager." Harry said, cutting off the stuttering goblin.

Hermione sighed mentally as she watched the exchange. Truth be told, she couldn't really blame him. She herself didn't really have a lot of patience with the race after her past experience with them. Or was it future experience?

"R-Right. This way sir." The goblin said, before closing the counter and gesturing for Harry and Hermione to follow as he led the way out of the Atrium through one of the side doors.

They walked through the hallways, occasionally passing a goblin or human worker, till they came to a set of golden doors with a plaque reading Potter Accounts on them.

The goblin knocked on the door and waited a moment as a gibberish reply came from the other side. Then he nodded to himself and pushed the door open and gestured for Harry and Hermione to enter, bowing deeply before leaving.

The two teenagers looked around the now found themselves in. Truth be told, it was quite a bit like Rebecca's, with the glaring difference being that instead of a gorgeous redheaded woman behind the desk, there was a distinctly ugly four foot tall goblin.

The goblin looked at them with a surprised and slightly shocked expression on his face.

"What are you doing here? And how were you even allowed in? This place is strictly for account holders and family." The goblin said, regaining his composure. His voice still carried an edge to it though.

Harry turned to Hermione and nodded. The currently blonde girl stepped forward and bowed slightly to the goblin, keeping her face neutral.

"Master goblin, I request your permission to draw my wand. I offer oath that I shall not use it against the goblin nation in any way." Hermione said, sweating inwardly for a bit, hoping that all those books on goblins that she had read would pay off.

"Permission granted, but I shall be watching closely." The goblin replied, surprised and pleased at the proper formal request.

Hermione stifled a sigh of relief and nodded thankfully before pulling out her wand and waving it slightly over Harry's face, then over her own.

Immediately their features started to shift and change before resolving to show their fourteen and fifteen year old selves.

"Mr. Potter? What is the meaning of this? If you wanted an appointment, all you had to do was ask. There was no need for all this." The goblin said seriously, hiding his surprise as he let his professional nature take over.

"I do realize that, master goblin, but it is like I told the teller outside. I need to be discreet at the moment." Harry said as he took a seat in the chair indicated by the goblin, Hermione sitting down in the one next to him.

"Please, allow me to introduce myself. I am known as Silverclaw and I have been account manager to House Potter for sixty nine years now." The newly named Silverclaw said.

"A pleasure. I am Harry Potter as you well know, and my companion is Hermione Granger, my best friend." Harry said, gesturing towards Hermione at the end.

Silverclaw nodded back to her as she inclined her head respectfully, looking over her as if sizing her up.

"Well, anyway Mr. Potter, it is quite fortunate that you have shown up here at this time. There are quite a few things that I need to go over with you." Silverclaw said, before glancing at Hermione again. "Some of them however, are highly confidential, and-"

"Hermione has my complete trust." Harry said, cutting the goblin off as he caught the hint. "Whatever you need to talk to me about can be spoken about in front of her, no matter how confidential."

"Of course. My apologies, I meant no offense. I only have my client's best interests at heart." Silverclaw said, turning to Hermione.

"No offense taken." Hermione said as she sat back, knowing it was best to let Harry take the lead for the moment.

"Very well, let us begin. This shouldn't take more than an hour." Silverclaw said as he retrieved a file from his desk. "First order of business is your inheritance."

The goblin looked up, scrutinizing Harry closely.

"Mr. Potter, it seems that just yesterday evening, when I last checked the records, you were shown to be fourteen years old, and eligible to take on the mantle of Lord Potter on achieving majority at seventeen years of age." Silverclaw said, pausing to let that sink in.

"However, when I checked the records again today, the Ministry records seem to have changed and now declare you as a legal adult. Not only that, but apparently magic itself has validated this, as our own records now show you to be an adult in the eyes of magic." Silverclaw said, pausing again as he looked up at the two humans across from him. "Could you perhaps explain?"

Harry glanced at Hermione who nodded reassuringly, before turning back to the goblin in front of him.

"Uh yeah, we thought something like that might happen." Harry said, getting a raised eyebrow in return. "You see, it all starts with the Triwizard Tournament..."

Harry then spent a few moments explaining what had happened with the tournament so far, going into great detail on the conversation that had been had after his name had come out, and getting helpful inputs from Hermione from time to time.

"... so Hermione suggested that since I had, for all intents and purposes, been declared an adult, I should probably use the chance to fully claim my inheritance." Harry said.

"I see. That is quite an interesting tale, Mr. Potter. In any case, Ms. Granger here was correct. Although I find the stupidity of the Ministry quite amusing, to find that Albus Dumbledore went along with it is quite shocking to say the least." The goblin said thoughtfully, before shaking his head.

"In any case, your human affairs are of no concern to Gringotts beyond their role in declaring you as an adult. Now, I believe you would like to get done with claiming your inheritance first?" Silverclaw asked.

"Yes please. And there is one other thing we wish to discuss after that." Harry said, glancing towards Hermione.

"Of course. Now, the Potter inheritance ritual itself is a simple task." The goblin said, tapping a rune etched on his desk.

"All you have to do is put on the Head of House ring. It has quite a few charms on it that decide whether the bearer fits the criteria for Head of House. If you do, the ring will glow a bright red and fit itself to your finger. Otherwise... well let's just say that an attempt to put on the ring by someone who isn't a Potter by blood won't be a pleasant sight." Silverclaw said with a toothy grin stretching on his face.

Both the time travelers had to repress shudders at the sight. A smiling goblin does NOT look nice.

A door to the side of the office opened and a goblin stepped in, bowing to the accounts manager. They exchanged a few words in the strange language that was Gobbledygook, before the newly arrived goblin bowed and left.

"My associate shall fetch the ring shortly. Till then we might discuss this other matter you have spoken of, since the things I myself wanted to discuss with you will have to wait till after you claim Head of House." Silverclaw said, gesturing for Harry to speak.

"Alright. Uh okay, how do I put this?" Harry said to himself, frowning, before nodding to himself. "Well you see, Hermione here is a muggle born. You might know the general attitude of those in the magical world to people of her parentage."

The goblin nodded in acknowledgement, now knowing where this was going, seeing as he had gone through the same thing with another couple that had glaring similarities to this one not two decades ago.

"And you wish to protect Ms. Granger from that by bringing her under the protection of House Potter. Am I correct?" Silverclaw asked shrewdly.

Both the teens looked startled at that, wondering how he had known. Seeing the inquisitive looks on their faces, Silverclaw decided to answer the unasked question

"You aren't the first couple I have gone through this with." He said, and Hermione gained a look of realization on her face.

"Harry's father brought his mother to you for the same thing, didn't he?" Hermione asked, as Harry gave a silent oh.

"Quite right. James Potter brought one Lily Evans to me sometime during their seventh year at Hogwarts, asking if I had a way to bring his partner under protection of House Potter. I will give you the same options I did him, seeing as this is a very similar situation." Silverclaw said.

Before he could continue, though, the door to the side opened again and the goblin from before stepped back in. He was carrying a lacquered wooden box with a dark finish; with a gold inlay forming what Harry assumed was the sigil of House Potter, a majestic stag rearing in its hind legs, a sword gripped in its front hooves.

"Ah, the ring. Place it before Mr. Potter, thank you." Silverclaw said motioning for the goblin to gead towards Harry.

The goblin placed the box before Harry, giving a slight bow, then turned to Silverclaw giving a deeper bow, before leaving through the door.

"Very well, Mr. Potter, if you could please put on the ring. We shall continue our discussion after that." Silverclaw said.

Harry nodded and opened up the box in front of him, angling it so Hermione could see it too.

It was a simple golden band. Very deceptively simple. Yet Harry could literally feel the magic around the ring,.

He plucked it off the velvet cushion it was resting on and peered at it closely. As far as he could see, there was nothing on the ring whatsoever. But in the world of magic, appearances were often deceiving.

He slowly slid the ring onto his finger. When nothing happened, he turned to Hermione and exchanged worried glances.

Right then, the ring pulsed, and he felt a sharp pain in his finger.

Grabbing his hand in pain, he focused his attention on the ring as a line of shapes that Harry could only guess were runes started showing up on the ring. The Runes started glowing brighter and brighter, before they suddenly flashed red, before abruptly settling down.

Silverclaw grinned at Harry again as he looked up from the ring.

"Congratulations, Lord Potter."

* * *

**A/N**: Aaaand cut. So, that was the sixth chapter.

Not much happened, apart from Harry becoming a Lord. But the story will be going kinda slow, so deal with it.

And let me know if you liked the little scene with Rebecca, James and Lily, and if you want to read more of that.


End file.
